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Details

Date Published

Jan. 4, 2019

Date Built

Nov. 18, 2018

CPU Clock Rate

3.7 GHz

GPU Core Clock Rate

1.62 GHz

GPU Effective Memory Clock Rate

14 GHz

Description

[edit 1/6/18]
* Forgot to mention this was my first build & very much appreciate everyone's comments/suggestions!
* Did some digging and found that the ASUS Aura software was causing the crashes where the monitor stopped receiving input and the computer became non-responsive. Removed that software and now everything works fine.
* Also, switched from HDMI to Displayport and haven't had any GPU issues since.*

The goal was to create a future-proof home PC for productivity and decent 4k gaming with a max budget of 2k (and also make it look nice). I went for a white/black scheme because I dig that aesthetic, although I found I really like the RBG look of the RAM/cooler/fans in person as well. I don't have a lot of new games/AAA titles so I can't say that I have pushed the GPU very hard, but I have gotten a solid 30-60fps out of most of my games (lots of RTSes) at max settings, which I'm happy with. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result, although there are a couple of things I wish I had done differently (upgraded SSD to NVMe), and some things that I may do in the future (better cooling for CPU and maybe even GPU).

Part Reviews

CPU

Very impressed with this processor and for the most part the stock cooler as well. The cooler can get a little loud under heavy loads, but with the speakers up or headphones on, it doesn't really distract from gaming or work much.

Storage

Video Card

IMO best value if you're looking to futureproof. Got this mainly for white/black aesthetics, but have been very impressed with performance as well. @4k can do 60fps for most of my less graphics-demanding RTSes, but averages only 31fps running Dark Souls 3.

Case Fan

Got these at best buy because they were on sale, but didn't realize they were high static pressure till I had already bought them. They work fine as case fans but are probably better suited for radiators. They look great, but there is no way to control RGB via software.

TBH I kind of expected more from the 2070, but I don't play a lot of FPS so it's not a dealbreaker for me. I did try 60fps once on Anno 2070 and the temp slowly creeped up until the GPU crashed. Haven't since.

Havent OC'd myself extra, but the card has a small factory OC. I may be incorrect in blaming the GPU for the Anno crash, will try testing it some more. And I agree, for the price of the card it should not be malfunctioning.

No matter what price you pay for a GPU, it should never overheat to the point that it crashes. I would run some synthetic benchmarks. Run some 3d Mark, some blender etc. and see whether it crashes. Maybe furmark and prime too...

Anno 2070 should run way higher on max settings. My old GTX 770 can deliver 60 on 1440p max, OC obviously, but the RTX 2070 has about 150% increased performance...

yeah, if you are trying 4k with an hdmi that isnt 2.0 high speed then you wont get high framerates. Even just a high speed hdmi would greatly improve performance. That still doesnt explain the GPU crashes.

Pretty good PC. Might want to have that RTX 2070 RMA’d though, a graphics card pushed to high load should not crash. By the way, don’t worry too much about not having NVME, it really only benefits you if you constantly move large files around and otherwise, the difference between an AHCI SSD and a NVME SSD, is unnoticeable.

Nice clean build, I owned an RTX 2070 and it is just a 1440P card, used the afterburner auto overclocking feature, save the curve and be happy with it. One thing that will crash your GPU is overclocking the memory.

Works well for me on my cheap 4k monitor, but I haven't played a lot of newer, graphics-intensive games. Usually hovers around 65-70°C when playing Anno 2070 (moderately graphics intensive) at 60fps in 4k. Did see some screen tearing while playing the Shadow of the Tomb Raider demo, but it wasn't enough to make it un-playable IMO.